Transcribed by Elaine Walker. If I find any typos I will do my best to reproduce them.

Video Programme

The bleary-eyed video manager staggers out of the darkened room, into a world of light and colour. Its taken six months, but he has finally recovered. No more dark rooms, with giant video screens. He can get on with his life, suddenly a cold feeling runs down his back, a memory resurfaces. It was 6am on the last day of the convention, just after his brain had been flushed out. The dreaded words were said:

“Yeah sure, I’ll help with the video programme for next years Con.”

Oh well, his fate sealed, he turns and re-enters the dark room to search for the obscure, the classic, the brilliant and the weird, that will become the video programme for The Festival of the Imagination 1996.

So what’s this year’s video stream going to offer all those individuals who love to spend endless hours in a darkened room watching flickering lights projected onto a large screen.

Nightly features, with the Director’s cuts if possible, with a few surprises.

Homage to the centenary of the SF film genre.

Daily Australian and New Zealand films (we even found ones that don’t have “Max” in the title!)

Hong Kong Chaos (lots of guns, martial arts, tacky special effects and over the top action)

Rubber Suit Monsters (big guys in in bad costumes, who just love to destroy cities)

Open screenings. These will occur very late at night, so bring in any videos you wish to show others or simply to watch yourself. So remember – we want your videos.

If all goes well an audio stream.

Plus an assortment of the usual and unusual stuff (classic TV series, animé, etc.) and a whole bunch of new stuff you haven’t seen but should.

All this will be sorted into a continuous 24 hour video program that we hope will blow your mind.

P.S. Please remember, when entering or leaving the video room, do not trip over the dead video attendants at the door.

“The television screen is the retina of the mind’s eye.”

David Cronenberg, Videodrome

About australian sf-history

ASFDAP was set up in 2011 after the rediscovery by the wider SF community of an impressive hoard of Australian SF community related ephemera, fanzines and other materials in the Murdoch University basement.